West Driefontein

West Driefontein
West Driefontein is located in Gauteng
West Driefontein
West Driefontein
West Driefontein is located in South Africa
West Driefontein
West Driefontein
Coordinates: 26°23′S 27°26′E / 26.383°S 27.433°E / -26.383; 27.433
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceGauteng
DistrictWest Rand
MunicipalityMerafong City
Area
 • Total47.54 km2 (18.36 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total2,857
 • Density60/km2 (160/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African97.1%
 • Coloured1.3%
 • Indian/Asian0.4%
 • White1.2%
First languages (2011)
 • Sotho28.4%
 • Xhosa27.2%
 • Tsonga15.0%
 • Zulu13.8%
 • Other15.6%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Flooded level, West Driefontein mine, South Africa. The dolomite overlying the gold reefs hosts much groundwater, giving the mines flooding problems.

West Driefontein was a South African gold mining company belonging to the Goldfields Group (now Sibanye Gold).

It lies approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) outside Carletonville next to Blyvooruitsig and East Driefontein. It used to be the richest gold mine in the world before it was flooded by water.

  1. ^ a b c d "Main Place West Driefontein". Census 2011.